1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an operating element with wake-up functionality for a motor vehicle, wherein the setting of the operating element can be selected by a translationally and/or rotationally movable grip, having at least one wiper contact track divided into sectors, a wiper contact directly or indirectly connected to the grip, and an electronic analysis unit that can be switched off.
2. Description of the Background Art
In modern motor vehicles, load current for a consumer, for example a lighting means, is not directly switched by operating elements. Instead, a control signal is generated, on the basis of which the actual switching process takes place, for example using a relay. The setting of the operating element can be selected by means of a translationally and/or rotationally movable grip, as is known for rotary switches for the headlights of a motor vehicle, for example. To this end, an operating element has a wiper contact track over which a wiper contact is moved by means of the grip. As a function of the setting of the grip, the wiper contact is located in a particular sector of the wiper contact track, thus establishing a contact that is detected by an electronic analysis unit. The electronic analysis unit then triggers the execution of the selected functionality. Further, it is known to connect an operating element to a data bus of the motor vehicle. The operating element has an appropriate bus electronics unit for this purpose. A disadvantage of such operating elements is that the analysis electronics unit or bus electronics unit has high power consumption.
It is known to place an electronics unit in what is called a sleep mode, in which the electronics unit is partially or completely switched off, in order to save energy. The electronics unit is awakened from this mode when needed.